City of Fate

Evening

Her fencing and Taekwondo classes went without incident. She sweated and kicked and punched her frustration out. So much so that she almost forgot about the strange apparition that had been haunting her.

She was packing up her stuff at the end of class, when her sensei crossed the room to talk. He sat next to Em as she unwrapped her hands. "Em, today you had good practice, it was a good workout, but I feel something around you, something distracting you from your training." His dark face was accentuated by a bald head and sharp, but gentle features.

"Yes sensei you're right, I have had a weird day today." Emelia stated distractedly.

"Well, I will tell you something my father told me, if you have a bad day, don't fret because tomorrow will be better, you just have to move on and let destiny guide you." Sensei Yeung said.

"What did you say?" Emelia asked remembering back to what Mason had said earlier.

"Let destiny guide you, your fate is already determined." He stated, very matter of fact. Emelia couldn't help but feel a pang of resentment at the statement.

"I don't believe in fate, I do what I want, no one or no thing determines my actions, my movements or MY LIFE!" She was getting angrier by the second, no one was going to tell her she wasn't free to do as she wished.

"Emelia, this is not a bad thing. Sometimes fate has great things planned for you. Sometime it doesn't, but you can rest easy knowing that whatever happens, it is meant to be." With that Sensei Yeung turned and walked away to straighten up the dojo for the next class.

Emelia took out her phone and texted Mason and Carol. "Leaving class now, be home soon. You guys better be on or I'm going to flip. I got some stuff to tell you."

She called her mom to come pick her up, but there was no answer. Confused by the days events and what sensei had told her, as well as mad at her mom for not answering, she grabbed her bag removing the necklace from the front pouch. She looked at it, the pendant was white, almost iridescent like mother of pearl. It was round with the image of a sword over a shield and inlaid into a dark almost black wood triangle with some type of runes inscribed along the three sides. It seemed to shimmer alittle as she stared but she shrugged it off and clipped the thin gold chain around her neck. She put her ear buds in and started walking.

With her ear buds in and the sounds of the city drowned out by her music, she sauntered home, hands shoved deep into her sweatshirt pockets, hood up and head down. She was totally zoned out in thought when she felt a hand touch her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her clam toe sneakers. She spun around ready to fight, or fly, depending on what it was that touched her. To her surprise and relief it was just Mr. Root. She pulled out one ear bud and shoved it in her pocket in one movement born from repetition. Her face an image of relief at the sight of Mr. Root.

"Whatcha up to, Em? Not usually walking home this late." He said, peering at her from over round glasses. "Saw ya walking by the shop and thought it was weird." Emelia frequently walked past his bodega, almost always stopped in for a snack or an energy drink and always chatted with him.

"Well Mr. R, I have been having a weird day." She explained, feeling like she has said that about a hundred times today.

"I hear ya. Look, you need a ride or something? Its getting pretty late, a lotta weirdos round here at night." Mr. Root asked, leaning on the broom he was using to sweep the sidewalk in front of his shop, genuine concern on his features. "Louis can watch the store for a bit."

"Nah, I'm good Mr. R. Thanks for the concern but I need to clear my head."

"Ok, I get it. Be safe." His thick mustache wiggling comically as he spoke. His smiling eyes had a way of cheering Emelia.

She popped the ear bud back in, shoved her hands back in her pockets "Later Mr. R, thanks and have a great day." Emelia called to him, then she turned and resumed her trek home. She bopped a little as she walked getting caught up in her music. She was so focused on her footsteps and the music that she wasn't thinking about what her sensei had said. She wasn't even worried about fate or an apparition and she certainly wasn't worrying about the lady watching her from across the street, but none the less there she was, peering through the blinds of an apartment adjacent to Mr. Root's building.